Rear part of shoe uppers



`F arch l l 94 l A. L. RUSSELL.

REAR PART 0F SHOE UPPERS Filed Feb. 16, 19:59

Illa

Cil

Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,235,086 auna PART or suon Urrnrts Jersey Application February 16, 1939, Serial No. 256,753

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the manufacture of boots and shoes including a laminated, molded rear` part of the upper of a shoe and a method of making said rear part.

In the manufacture of certain types of shoes, there has: been'employed a flnished laminated, molded rear part adapted to be located upon the heel end of an insole and to be fastened in place preparatory to attaching the outsole. Such a rear part commonly comprises a counter stiffener covered on its inner face with a layer of material which serves as a quarter lining and on its outer face with a layer of upper material which serves to form the quarter portions of the finished shoe and is hereinafter referred to as the quarter. Preparatory to attaching a wood heel, it is usual to trim away the peripheral portion of the heel seat of the outsole to an extent sufficient to permit the edge of the -concavity in the attaching face of the heel to contact with the outer edge portion of the generally horseshoe-shaped inturned flange of the quarter, after which the heel is attached under pressure. The entire edge or rim of the heel is located in a single plane, and consequently the edge portion of the heel seat which receives it should also be located in a single plane. If this latter .condition is not attained, or if the heel is not accurately located, the joint between the rim of the heel and the adjacent portion of the quarter is not the tight, unbroken joint which it should be, but presents an unsightly gap or gaps at one or more localities.

The present invention relates to a method of making an assembly of the rear part of the upper of a shoe, said method comprising providing a molded laminated blank having an inturned attaching ilange and a substantially upright wall, and compressing the laminated flange in such manner that the compressed flange is thinner and more dense than the adjacent portion of the upright wall, and there is left uncompressed and projecting downwardly from the lower edge of said wall a bead to receive the rim of the concavity in the attaching face of the heel. With .an assembly so made, the edge of this concavity may be pressed firmly against and embedded in the bead. so as to produce a tight joint between the heel end of the quarter and the heel.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a molded, finished rear part of the upper of a shoe of the openshank type;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of said rear part in process of being incorporated in a shoe, the shoe having reached that stage of its manu- (Cl. lil- 145) facture at which the heel is about to be attached;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through a portion, of a compressing machine, .a rear part of an upper being shown in position to have its inturned flange compressed; and

Fig. 4 isan elevation of a finished shoe in which this rear part has been embodied showing the tight joint between the heel and the rear part.

The illustrated rear part of the upper, which is suitable for use with a so-called open-shank shoe, consists of a molded counter stilener 1, having attached by cement to its outer face a quarter 9, which is preferably of one piece and to its inner face a lining Il. In the illustrated article, the upper margin of the quarter is folded over the upper edge of the counter stffener; and the folded margin of the quarter, the Lipper edge of the stifener and that of the lining are fastened together by stitches I3. The particular shape and top-line construction forms no part of the present invention, but it should be understood that the rear p-art of the upper is laminated and consists of the three elements shown, if a lining is present, said rear part having been molded to the desired shape and having a substantially upright wall and an inturned attaching flange.

In order to produce at the lower end of the substantially upright wall a bead, which is, so to speak, a downward extension of said wall, the inturned flange is compressed and its thickness thereby reduced in a certain manner. Such compressing may be accomplished, for example, by placing the rear part of the upper bottomside-up upon a flat-faced support l5 having a sharp corner to engage the inner iface of the inturned flange at its junction with the upright wall, and applying pressure against the outer face of the flange by means of a flat-faced presser il having a sharpy corner to engage the flange at a locality opposite to that engaged by the corner of the support I5. The result of applying pressure in thisI manner is that the flange is compressed, at least at its base, and its thickness thereby reduced so as to provide at the lower end of the upright wall a b-ead lil, which projects below the flange in line with said wall, the lower portion of this bead consisting of a portion of the quarter which is ordinarily made of leather and is comparatively soit. There is thus provided a deformable lbead located to receive the rim of a wood heel in which the rim may be embedded when the heel is forced into place during the heel attaching operation.

The compressing of the flange not only forms the bead but causes the ange to extend at right angles to the adjacent upright wall, so that the iiange will lie flat upon the heel end of an insole on a last. When a counter stiffener, or a rear part containing such a stiffener, is molded in the usual manner, the intention is to have the inturned flange at right angles to the adjacent upright wall; but, owing to the inherent resiliency of the material of which the stifener is made, the flange usually springs back slightly from the position into which it was molded, and even this slight springing back is sufficient to interfere with the proper fitting to the heel end of the insole of the stiilener or of the rear part containing the stiffener. The compression of the inturned flange between the flat-faced members l5, I1 counteracts this springing back and sets the flange permanently at right angles to the upright wall. It also reduces the thickness and increases the density of the material of the heel seat whereby the heel may be more rmly and rigidly attached.

The rear part of the upper having the compressed inturned attaching ange and the bead, as described above, may be incorporated in a shoe in any suitable manner. In Fig. 2, in which a shoe in process of manufacture is shown, the rear part of the upper has been placed upon a last 2|, to the bottom of which an insole 23 has been temporarily tacked; the inturned flange of the rear part has been fastened to the insole by cement or tacks; a thin strip of felt 21 has been cemented to the insole to ll the space between the opposite edges of the inturned ilange; an outsole 25 has been attached and the margin of its heel end trimmed off, and a heel 29 has been properly located. The shoe is now ready to have the heel pressed into place to embed the rim of its attaching face in the bead I9 and to be permanently fastened in place by nails.

Although the invention has been set forth as .embodied in a particular article, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular article which has been shown and described.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

The method of making an assembly of the rear part of the upper of a shoe ready to be attached to an insole, said method comprising providing a molded laminated blank consisting of a counter stiffener, a lining on its inner face and a comparatively soft quarter on its outer face, said blank having a, substantially upright wall and an inturned attaching flange, and exerting pressure against the outer face of the laminated flange from its edge to a point adjacent to its junction with the upright wall while supporting the inner face of the iiange, the pressure being applied in such manner that the portion of the ange upon which pressure is exerted is compressed so as to decrease its thickness and increase its density and there is left uncompressed and projecting downwardly from the lower edge of the upright wall a bead, the lower part of which consists of the comparatively soft substance of the quarter.

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL. 

